Google Takes "Street View" to the Amazon Rain Forest

Growing up, I always learned to avoid the Amazon for the following two reasons: the largest and most terrifying reptile on this planet--the 22-foot Saltwater Crocodile--and the tiny fish that’s attracted to urine and will jam itself in your dickhole--the dreaded candiru.

But if the fear of either of those animals isn’t enough to dissuade you from a visit the Amazon, at least you’ll have Google to keep you company. The Google Street View service, in association with charitable Foundation for a Sustainable Amazon, is now expanding to the remote locations of the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers in Brazil’s northwest area.

Local people are currently learning how to collect images and mount equipment so that images are collected on a long-term basis. Then images will be edited together to provide a panoramic view of the entire area.

FAS pitched the idea to Google in 2009 with the intent to use the images to illustrate the effects of deforestation and long-term effects of poorly planned sustainability efforts. For Google, the challenge was more in logistics, as their typical Street View cameras are built for modern roads. However, Google had previously developed a “trike” to reach difficult road areas, and the trike was selected to navigate the thin dirt paths of Amazonian villages.

Cameras will also be mounted on a boat traveling down the rivers. Many of the villagers are not only unfamiliar with Google, but unfamiliar with the internet altogether, but are excited with the coverage just the same.